Shobhaa: Never a Dull De will be released on 15th November at the Tata Lit Fest in Mumbai. I am looking forward to your reactions!

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This appeared in Asian Age...

Mine is bigger than
yours….Sardar Vs. Sardar

India is a nation of statue worshippers. We
have a peculiar relationship with our statues – old and new. In the days of the
Raj, we slavishly worshipped the
magnificent statues of British Kings, Queens and Generals, which dotted our
cities. This carried on for years and years, well after the sun had set over
the Empire. I was very fond of one particular statue in Mumbai. It was called
Kala Ghoda by locals. Well, it was a statue of a ghoda ( horse) and it was
black (kala). Straightforward and simple. Nobody remembered nor cared which
Britisher was atop this gorgeous ghoda. But everybody was aware of the statue’s
existence. It was our favourite landmark. Every cabbie knew exactly where to go
if you said , “ Kala Ghoda chalo.” One
fine day, the statue disappeared. As did several other Raj statues. Parochialism
and a misplaced sense of national honour led to officious netas insisting on
getting rid of well loved symbols like this ghoda. I am told the statue found a
new home somewhere in the city. Perhaps, in the zoo. Along with most of the
other discarded relics from the Angrez past .

Years later, a rather strange statue of
Rajiv Gandhi was installed in a pretty garden close to where I reside in South
Mumbai.Why strange? Ummm, the first time I saw it after it was officially
unveiled, I wondered what our former Prime Minister was doing with a lasso. He
wasn’t a cowboy. Then, I looked again, and hello! what resembled a lasso was,
in fact, a garland. And he was flinging it in the air, or at someone in the far
distance. Nice! But errrr…. a little puzzling. Most of the other statues in and
around Mumbai are of Shivaji Maharaj ( in keeping with local sentiment, of
course!). There is a slightly stunted one of Netaji at Chowpatty. A pretty
impressive one of Dr. Ambedkar near the
University. And a rather wonderful one of Tilak, along the beachfront. There is
also the famous Khada Parsee. Translation: he is standing (khada) and he is
Parsee. Therefore. We like obvious in Mumbai! Statues of other notable Parsee
gentlemen are positioned in and around Churchgate station. I am guessing we
will soon see multiple statues of Sachin Tendulkar in and around Dadar.

As one travels through India, one notices just how our statue obsession
has grown during the past decade.
Mayawati rules as the Statue Queen, of course. But beyond her turf, the maximum
number of statues one encounters are of
Mahatama Gandhi. As the Father of the Nation, nobody has problems with
that. But now comes the Statue of Statues – Sardar Patel’s. In Gujarat. Go
ahead and shoot me for saying this, but considering Mahatma Gandhi also belongs
to Gujarat…to India … to the world…. if such an ambitious statue had to be erected at all, should it not
have been the Mahatma’s? All of last week, we were witness to some really
petty political bickering over one of India’s most important statesmen – Sardar
Patel – the Iron Man. It was a pathetic attempt to ‘own’ Patel, like he was the
bone being fought over in a kiddish dog-in-the- manger game being played by
Modi and Singh. Both men emerged looking like pygmies, as they tried to outdo
one another and lay claim to Sardar’s legacy. In any case,the entire project
stinks of political opportunism . Suddenly, we have rediscovered Sardar!
Suddenly, Modi has decided Sardar should have been the first prime minister of
India. Suddenly, Manmohan Singh has co-opted the Sardar into the Congress fold!
Listen you guys – you aren’t fooling anybody! And it is insulting the Sardar’s
memory to exploit him so shamelessly to score cheap political points.Modi has
said the farmers of Gujarat will contribute
iron to create the tallest statue on earth.Oh dear – that notches up one
more stunt - why just the farmers? And
to compare the significance of the Sardar Statue to the Statue of Liberty in America or the gigantic statue of
Jesus Christ that dominates Rio, is totally misleading. One is a symbol of
collective national values , the other is religious. If at all, Modi wanted to
make a major statement, he should have considered a pan Indian monument
featuring a pantheon on national figures, like the magnificent heads of
American Presidents carved out of rock at Mount Rushmore. Or Mahatma Gandhi, of
course!

As and when the Sardar’s statue does get
erected, we will have at least one new government in place. Possibly three! The
very people who are hoping to gain political mileage from the Sardar, may or
may not be around. The farmers who trustingly donating iron for their hero, may
also be dead and gone. But so what? Our leaders remain callous and indifferent
to farmer suicides. They care a jot about rising prices and food grains rotting
across the countryside. By erecting this monumental statue at an equally
monumental cost, how on earth will politicians serve the people they claim to
care about and represent? Symbolism of this kind, is all very well. But it
doesn’t fill empty stomachs. Or improve the quality of life. We talk about the
staggering, long term impact of a shaky economy. Modi discusses ‘development’
from every available platform. Manmohan Singh discusses nothing at all. He just
stares and keeps mum.

Poor Sardar Patel. If you really want to
honour the great man’s memory, start schools, build hospitals, provide food to
those who have none and a roof over every Indian’s head, clothe your people,
and make sure they have the sort of future Sardar Patel had envisioned for his
countrymen. That would be the right way to honour him. But I guess, it’s so
much easier to build a statue with other people’s money… and claim all the
glory!

Christmas celebration is going to be happening ones along with the lovely splendor of hampers as displayed in the address www.expressgiftbasketsusa.com that is specially designed for gifts delivery to USA. Those living in USA will enjoy Christmas with these hampers.

You have echoed the thoughts of 1B+ people of this country whose tax money is used without their permission. We are also to blame. Gallons of milk, honey, curds, fruits etc etc are poured over God statues everyday when millions of children are starving to death. Fanatics will kill me for writing this. But I don't care. Nobody cares for our poor enough to improve their lifestyles. That's why our country is the third one to have the world's poorest people after 66 years of the so called "independance". But for many no independance from poverty.

But I guess it is easier to build a statue with other people's money... and claim glory.Like I always say "THEY LIVE OF THE POOR" swindle the money that is due to the poor....Latha, U don't have to worry for speaking out. These gandus are only in a minority and if people like U and I speak out they will put their tails between their legs and....

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